While snowfall with this next wintry mess may be rather modest by February standards in its northern fringe, the potential for sleet and freezing rain could snarl travel in some of the same areas that experienced ice from Winter Storm Liam earlier this week.

Latest Forecast

Friday

Friday, mainly light to moderate snow will blanket the northern Rockies and adjacent High Plains from Idaho, Montana and Wyoming to western South Dakota and parts of Nebraska.

Friday night, snow will spread farther east into parts of the Mississippi Valley and southern Great Lakes. Some light sleet or freezing rain may also break out in parts of Kansas, Oklahoma and Missouri.

Friday Night's Forecast

Saturday

Saturday and Saturday night, an expansive swath of snow will stretch from the Rockies of Colorado, Utah and northern New Mexico to the Great Lakes, upstate New York and northern New England.

A band of sleet and freezing rain is expected from parts of Oklahoma and perhaps northwest Texas into the Ohio Valley, northern Pennsylvania, central New York and northern New England.

Saturday's Forecast

Sunday

Sunday, snow, sleet or freezing rain could continue from the mid-Mississippi Valley, Ohio Valley and Great Lakes into the interior Northeast.

Sunday night, snow, sleet and ice could linger in parts of northern New England and upstate New York.

Also, another area of light freezing rain, sleet or snow could develop Sunday night from parts of Texas to the Ohio Valley, though there is considerable uncertainty whether this area of precipitation forms at all.

That area may persist into Monday in parts of the Ohio Valley, Appalchians, and perhaps the Mid-Atlantic states. Again, this is still highly uncertain.

How Much Snow, Ice?

While it's too early for precise snowfall forecasts from this system, in general, light to moderate snowfall is expected from the Rockies to the Midwest and the interior Northeast. In most areas, this means accumulations less than 6 inches are expected.

An exception to that may be in parts of the Rockies, from Montana to far northern New Mexico, where over 6 inches of snow may fall in a few areas.

Once again, it appears rain, rather than ice or snow, will dominate along the immediate Interstate 95 corridor from Boston to Washington D.C.

Ice accumulation potential appears to be more of a nuisance, rather than a more damaging variety, from parts of north Texas into the Ozarks, Ohio Valley and interior Northeast.

Thus, you can expect some ice accumulation on elevated surfaces, bridges, overpasses, and untreated roads. However, we don't anticipate more than spotty tree damage and power outages in these areas this weekend.

Check back with us at weather.com for the latest on this upcoming wintry mess.

The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.